Fix
by ShaTTeRedMasK
Summary: Duo's POV, he's been picked up off the streets by a crime lord and is forced onto drugs. Can Heero save him from this life? angst, angst, ANGST. For a better summary, read the prologue. Warnings: AU, drugs, violence, 1x2 friendship, no yaoi.
1. Prologue

Author: shatteredmask  
Warnings: AU, OOC?, violence, drugs  
Pairings: very mild 12  
Spoilers: none that I know of, since it's AU it really doesn't tie in that well  
Rating: R, mainly for the violence  
Disclaimer: sadly I do not own gundam wing or any of the characters... if I did I probably wouldn't be sitting around writing fanfics...  
Notes: ok, so this is the first fanfic I've written, so if you do R&R please don't be too harsh! . Anyway, like I said before, I'm not really good with summaries, so read the prologue, it's not too long, I promise!

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I hate how I have to rob people, can't really help it though. I know it's stupid that I steal only from the richer people, leaving the poor and unable to defend themselves alone. I've been cutting it a little close on the payments, but I can't help it, I used to be one of those poor guys. I wish I could be like everyone else in that aspect. Then I'd be able to make the payments at the due time, or even before, relief much sooner. I can't do that though. I wish I could just stop doing this job.  
  
In a way I guess I could. I used to live on the streets and I'd rather go back to doing that then sleep in the nice little room that I sleep in now. It's not like I couldn't just leave and never come back, David doesn't care enough about me to even send someone back out to look for me and bring me back. I need the fix though, can't live without it. That's the one thing that keeps me comin' back, keeps me robbing people, and keeps me letting David use me. If it weren't for the fact that I wouldn't get my fix if I hurt him, he'd be in mass pain by now. I know how to fight. If I ran away and didn't get my fix I could deal with being deeply depressed and having suicidal thoughts, I had those a lot even before David found me.  
  
But I'm afraid of the pain. This drug makes me feel great, on top of the world, never felt better, but its got one hell of a hangover. I know I'm addicted. I'm very well aware of that fact. Curse David for making me that way, I could just leave and go to a hospital and steal the damn drug, if David hadn't been smart enough to make his own. He's the only person in the world who knows how to make the drug and I'm too scared of the pain to just run away and deal with it. He forced me to get hooked and I can't get out. He knows that and I can't do anything to piss him off or he'll stop me from having my fix. I need my fix. So that's why I steal from people and stain my conscience by doing anything and everything he makes me do.  
  
I can't live without my fix. I know that I could just kill myself and escape that way but, dammit I'm too young to die. I know that that's a really overused cleshe' but its true. I'm only fifteen. Man I wish that I'd never gotten into this mess but in a way I guess it's my fault. My choice to accept the first fix.  
  
After I lived in the orphanage for so long and no one ever adopted me, I was pretty down. The nun who took care of me was the only person who actually acted like she cared. She was the only one who actually... No, shut up Duo, no on could ever love you; obviously they wouldn't keep leaving you if they did. I even gave her a gift, a metal cross that I had spent months smoothing out the edges and cutting my fingers up on. She had said she loved the cross which made me feel good but when the gangs had burned the church down, she had died along with any hope of having her adopt me.  
  
I know that sounds stupid, but I honestly thought they would adopt me, that they cared enough to do that, after all, she was the only one who stood up for me when the other kids used to make fun of me and I cried in the closet. She comforted me, held me as I cried. I picked the cross off of her corpse when I got back to the church. Every one of the people in that church died. The nuns, Father Maxwell, Sister Helena, and all the other children. But not me. I was the only one who survived.  
  
I had been out using the spending money they had given me to buy them Christmas presents, a nice pair of earrings for Sister Helena, and a metal crucifix for Father Maxwell. I buried them under the place where the church used to stand. On the first payment I had to make for my fix I was running short on money and I spent two days in agony before I dug the presents back up and pawned them to meet the payment by the end of the day. David made me lose them by making me meet the payment. He made me lose myself by taking away my cross.  
  
It's not like this was the first time that someone important in my life died. When I had lived on the streets before the church found me, a boy named Solo had found me, those had been the good days, he was always running around with me as we stole food for the younger people in his little group, I would say gang, but Solo truly did not run a gang, he would never have helped burn that church down. A plague hit our area, I knew Solo had caught it and I had went into a hospital to steal the antidote. When I made it back he didn't look so good, he would not take the antidote. He told me to give it to the other kids in the group, that I was in charge now. I begged him to take it and cried when he shook his head no. Boys don't cry he had said. I had noticed that he seem to be getting sick and I hadn't acted quick enough. I had known and I had been too late to save him. He died in my arms and it was all my damn fault. All mine. I had given the other kids the antidote never taking any for myself. Pity, the rest of the children died. But not me. I survived.  
  
The church found me before I managed to let myself starve to death. They had asked what my name was. Before Solo died he had said that he would be with me even after he died, I know it was kind of childish but I thought I would become two people so I said my name was Duo, I was only five, what would you expect? I have no recollection of what my original name was nor do I care. I also have no recollection of my parents who were also killed in a fire, my dad was a secret agent of a sort, the story goes that he told my mom and the government killed them, how I escaped being only three I don't know.  
  
I do remember staring into the fire after I was outside, hearing the screaming. The continual screaming that echoed in my head. I saw my mother crawl out of the house, I ran to her, I have no clue what she said to me, she died in my arms as well and I ran away before anyone came by to find anything. They both died. I didn't. You can't kill Shinigami, unfortunately. She, Sister Helena, and Solo die over and over again when I sleep. It's always nightmares here. I never sleep without a dream.  
  
I never have returned to that part of town. I also don't know if that is the true story or not, I hid in a tree at their funeral and heard two people who lived near us talking. They said that that was the rumor. It makes me feel even worse that I don't even know for sure why they died. After that I was on the street again when the church burned down. The man who basically owns me now was walking down the street, he must have heard me crying or something; he came down the alley and comforted me and convinced me to come with him. I decided to go with the nice old man to his house and stay the night, then leave.  
  
When I got to his house his grip suddenly became too hard to be that of a gentle leading one. He pulled me inside the house and threw me into a small empty room. He frequently sent people into the room to beat me and ask me if I was ready to take the shot and have relief from the pain. It was so cold and my whole body ached. I lasted three days. Three days of agony without any bruises. He was great at hurting without leaving any bruises. I had broken bones I know, but after I had accepted my first fix he had had a medic do a rough job of setting them. I never cried though. Solo also taught me that lesson. Boys don't cry. I tried not to cry after he and Sister Helena died, I really did, but I couldn't help it. At least I managed to not cry when I first got to David's.  
  
Those times also come back to haunt me in my sleep, I wish I could forget, but I can't. And so I had been stealing from people for the past two years to make the payments. I hate lying. Of all the things I can do; I can't lie. I may be very misleading sometimes but I just can't lie. My boss uses that to an advantage, he can ask me anything he wants and I have to answer or I won't get my fix and I can't lie.  
  
I need my fix. I'm all alone in this stupid craphole and I can't do anything about it. I hate feeling helpless; I hate having to be so dependant on anyone but myself. When I lived on the streets I didn't need to depend on anyone but me. Now I'm completely dependant on my boss and there's nothing I can do about it. He knows that, he uses me; I hate being used almost as much as lying. But still there's nothing I can do about it. I need my fix. Can't live without it.

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so... that's the prologue! please R&R!! PLLEAAAAAASSSE!!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
When I first got here, I used to pray every night that there would be a miracle, a rescue, anything to save me, nothing ever came. I believed in God, I was quite religious, having spent a good number of years in a church. When nothing happened I started to lose faith. I never did anything really wrong, unless I was right about the fact that it really was my fault that everyone died. No one denied that to me, but I never thought I could be the cause of something like that. I didn't know of anything I had done. I've given up almost completely now, I've been waiting a long time and things don't seem to be getting any better.  
  
I snapped myself out of my thoughts. I need to get back to work. The payment's tonight, I'm still $500 short. _Shit, I'll never make the payment on time. What am I gonna do, anything but the pain. What can I do, there's not enough people to steal from that I can get the money in time. I can't get a job, David said no to that, gotta do what David says and make him happy, need fix._ I bit my lip, in a moment of panic.  
  
_OK. Think calmly. Relax. Let's see, if I rob a house tonight I outta be able to do it. Rob a house._ I smirked at the stupidity of the idea. _Calm down, Duo._ I felt a fire go up my spine._ Shit, the drug's wearing off._  
  
A richly dressed man walked by, I followed him, acting like I was his son, carefully I removed his wallet, his watch, and, _holy shit! Jackpot!_ In my hand I held the container of an engagement ring. I opened it. The ring was still there. This could pay off this week's debt and the next two! But, this man was going to propose to a woman he hoped to make his wife, he must have spent good money on this ring... _Dammit! I need a fix though!_ I sighed. _Stupid good morals. Well, at least Father Maxwell would be proud. Ha! Proud? What am I thinking? I stole this man's stuff and I'm only giving back the ring._  
  
"Sir!" I called out to the man, quickly hiding the wallet and watch in the baggy pockets of my raggedy jeans. The man turned around and looked me over, I almost turned around and walked away, when I saw the look of superiority he gave me. But Father Maxwell's teachings of goodness were still too strong to commit a sin such as this.  
  
"Sir, I found this. I think it's yours." I said and walked over to him and handed the ring container back. It was true. I had found it, in his back pocket. I saw the look of shock on his face. Even I knew how stupid I was being. He took the case back, gave me a stern look, said a reluctant thank you, and turned around. He then checked to see if the ring was still in there, it was of course. At least he had the decency to turn the other way before checking. I sighed and turned around again, better go pawn the watch.

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ok! so that chapter 1. again, tell me how i'm doing! pleaaaase! R&R, i don't care if it's flames just give me something! i want to get better! 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
I got to the pawning shop and looked at who was at the register, it was Danny. He always took advantage of me. I had been to this shop too close too the deadline before and he had guessed I needed to do business with him. David would not be happy if he knew that. Danny knew that I was in desperate need of money and could force me to accept his price or turn me away. David only accepted money. He gave me an evil grin.  
  
"Back again, Duo? How far are you from the deadline?" He asked. I knew that he already knew it was tonight but that didn't stop him from reminding me who was in control of this bargaining. I glared at him.  
  
"It's tonight." I said, trying to keep the malice out of my voice. He grinned at me again.  
  
"Well, let's see then, what've you got?" I handed him the watch praying that this plus the money in the wallet would at least be $500. I could already tell by looking at it that it was real gold. It was a Rolex. I knew a Rolex would not sell for less than $250. This looked to be an expensive watch worth at least $600. Now I just had to see how nice Danny would be. He looked it over making his judgment and then wrote a sum down on a sheet of paper. He looked at me again.  
  
"How much money do you need for the payment?" He asked me with a smile. There are times when I really truly wish I could lie, like now, yeah, now would have been a good time for that.  
  
"500." I said not looking at his eyes. He didn't need to know that I had a wallet as well.  
  
"500 huh?" I looked up at him. He was smiling. Dammit. He held up a sheet of paper, '$650' was written on it.  
  
"This is the price I would normally buy such a watch for, you don't need that much though, in fact, I think I feel like watching you suffer, I'll give you $400 for it." He said with an evil grin. That would leave me $100 short. I still had the wallet though. I tried to keep the glimmer of hope out of my eyes. The guy was rich. He might carry such amounts of money in his wallet. I glared at him. Then I slumped my shoulders.  
  
"Deal." I said. He handed me $400.  
  
"Have fun tonight." He said with another smirk. "Oh yeah, and since you won't be able to pay off your debt tonight," He said with a look out the window, the sun was setting I had to make the payment by 8:00 pm. "I want to see you in here tomorrow or I'll never do business with you again." He enjoyed seeing people in pain. People like me. It disgusts me how sick people can be. I nodded slowly. Then doubled up as pain slammed through my stomach, the drug was really starting to wear off.  
  
I ran out the door to the sound of Danny laughing. David would not be happy if he found out that someone had guessed I was on a drug.

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I ran back to the abandoned-looking apartment and rushed to my room, I quickly unlocked my door and sat down on my bed. I pulled the wallet out and looked inside, praying that there was at least a hundred dollars in there. I pulled out the money and counted it. _Fuck._ $90. I was ten dollars short, ten measly dollars; I could have stolen that off of a kid. I looked at the clock in my room, twenty minutes until eight. I still had time.  
  
I rushed out of the door locking it behind me, I staggered into the banister leading down the hall as pain roared through me, this one lasted longer than the other two had. I waited for it to pass and then ran down the hall and into the street. I looked around. _Need someone, anyone. Come on, ten dollars. Just ten._  
  
There was a man walking down the street, hands in his pockets, slouched over, perfect. I could mug him and get away with it. I walked behind him silently; just because I could do it didn't mean I had to. I looked for the bulge in his back pocket. I carefully reached forward and stumbled onto the ground as pain lanced through my entire body. _Dammit, so close._ I curled up. Then reached for the hand being held out to me.  
  
"Are you ok?" It took me a second to realize that the man I had been planning to steal from was helping me up.  
  
"Uh, yeah I'm fine." I said, trying to cover up. David would not be happy if anyone found out what he was doing. _I need to make David happy, he gives me my fix._ Inspiration struck. "I must have tripped, my stomach is hurting a lot. I think I need to go to the hospital, I don't have enough money though."  
  
It was all true, my stomach as well as the rest of my body was hurting. I did need to go to the hospital. I didn't have enough money, after all, what I stole was David's money not mine.  
  
"How much do you think you'd need?" The man asked with concern, making me almost reluctant to ask for money from him. I hated manipulating people.  
  
"Twenty dollars, I've got a little saved up already." I said automatically. Yeah, like however much extra the guy decided to give me. The man opened his wallet.  
  
"No, no. I couldn't take money from you." I said, still on auto-pilot. I was getting tired of using people. But I needed my fix. The man continued looking for money in his wallet.  
  
"How generous you are, here take $30." He said handing the money to me, he pushed it into my hand and turned around. I stuttered a thank you to seem in awe of his generosity. Then I almost fell again but instead managed to smash myself into the wall without too much sound as another wave of pain washed over me. After it stopped, I ran back to my room and looked at the clock, shit, five minute past. Maybe if I asked nicely? I ran to David's office and tentatively knocked on the door. At first there was no answer then the door opened and David stood there.

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Well, that's that chapter! yeah, i know some of it is a little unrealistic but hey whatever, it's my fic i can do what i want right? R&R please! 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
"Duo, I was wondering if I'd be seeing you on time this week." He turned and looked at a watch on his arm. "You're late." He said quite pleasantly. I shivered.  
  
"Sir, please, I have the money! I'm sorry I'm late. Please let me make my payment! Please! I'll do anything!" I begged, already starting to feel the pain rising again.  
  
"Hmmm, you are five minutes late, you will have to pay for that but I think we can discuss something. Please come inside." He motioned me in. I walked in and then fell into the hard chair in front of his desk as a fresh wave of pain arrived. As soon as it passed I stood up again knowing that David had not allowed me to sit down yet.  
  
"Sit." He said once he had let me stand in silence for a few minutes. I sat. He walked over behind me resting his hands on my shoulders a little too hard for comfort.  
  
"You should not have been late." He said as he squeezed a pressure point on my shoulders. I gasped in pain.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sir. When I was getting the last ten dollars it took a little longer than I intended! I need my fix, Sir. Please let me have it." I once again begged, my whole body aching.  
  
"Do I not give you enough time, Duo? Out of my many workers you are the one that seems to have the most trouble making the payments on time. Tell me what is it that you do differently?"  
  
"Sir, you are very generous with the time you give." I whimpered as fire raced across my whole body and then continued. "I have trouble stealing from certain other people, which is why I am slower to get the money." I whimpered again as all the old aches came back full force. I needed my fix.  
  
"Is that the only reason?" He asked. He seemed to know that I wasn't telling the whole truth. This was very bad; I had to let him know that Danny was cheating me on my steals. Then he would find out that I had let someone find out.  
  
"No." I said. My whole body tensed as the pain washed over me again and I let out a soft moan. It felt like my bones were on fire.  
  
"What else is there?" He asked, his tone of voice told me that he knew I had done something wrong.  
  
"Well, this guy at the pawning shop-"I stopped as my whole body shook, when it had passed I started talking again. "This guy at the pawning shop cheats me out of money because he knows I need to do business with him." I said in a rush and then started shaking again as it felt like every nerve in my body was burning up. I gritted my teeth trying to hold back another moan.  
  
"How, pray tell, does he know that?" David said in a dangerously quiet tone. His hands causing me pain wherever he touched.  
  
"He guessed one day-," I gasped as his hands caused me to waver from a particularly painful grip. "I staggered in two days after the deadline, he guessed I was on a drug." I shuddered as more pain ran through me, then David did something that hurt really bad and I started to black out. At the last second he stopped and I held still until the pain became bearable and then continued. "He guessed I worked for someone." I let out a moan again as my body tensed.  
  
"You were careless." David said.  
  
"Yes sir. I know sir. Please, sir. My fix." I said, my words coming in a rush again. It was becoming hard to think through the pain. He looked at me.  
  
"No, I don't think so, you have been very careless. I can not forgive that. You will have to come by tomorrow night with the payment. Then you will get your fix. Now go to bed and be glad I didn't make you wait longer." He said harshly.  
  
"But Sir." I croaked as another wave of pain rolled over me.  
  
"No! Now go to bed or I will make you wait longer." With that he threw me out of his office and I fell on the floor causing aches throughout my body. I staggered back up to my room and collapsed on my bed. _Must sleep. David wants me to sleep. Will get fix tomorrow. David was nice, didn't make me wait longer. _I passed out.

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not a happy chapter... oh well its not really a happy story.... anyway! R&R!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
My eyes sting. I gasped trying to breath in more air but not being able to. Couldn't breath. I climbed out of bed. _Hard to see, so foggy._ I heard shouts coming from somewhere else in the house. I opened my door. _Can't breath._ I fell forward. I crawled, it was easier to breath down here. Blinding light all of a sudden. Heat. _My face hurts. My eyes sting. Can't breath._ Fell down the stairs. _Ow._ I'm crying. Tears running down my face from my burning eyes. Cough. Cough. I pushed open the front door and climbed out. _Where is everyone? I'm scared. Mom. Where are you?_ Cough. Cough. I rubbed my eyes trying to make them stop stinging. I heard a scream. I ran towards it. My mom came staggering out of the house and fell onto the ground. _Mom!_ I ran toward her. My tears fell on her face. She screamed again. _What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong._ I reached for her hand. Cold. _So cold like ice._ I cried some more. _Don't leave me. Please. I need you._ Cold hand. I got up. Sirens. _Always run from sirens._ I ran. Trip. Pain. Fear. I came to a dead end. Cold. _So cold._ I curled up in one of the dark corners. I cried some more. Tears. Water on my cheeks. _It hurts. Mom where did you go?_ Cold like ice. Hard ground. Shiver. Cough. Cough. _So tired._ Sleep.

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yeah, i know it's short but the next chapter didn't really tie into it. R&R please!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
When I woke up the next day, I almost passed back out from the pain. I decided to stay inside mostly today. I'd wait until it was tonight and I could get my fix. Then I remembered I had to go see Danny. I got up and got dressed with a few moans. I walked trying to hide the pain and then I went into Danny's shop. He wasn't there. I cracked a small smile and then winced, he must have been sick today. I limped up to the guy at the counter.  
  
"Will you tell Danny, Duo came by?" I asked him. He looked at me strangely but finally nodded.

"Thanks." I gasped as fire clawed up through me. I limped back out and made my way home as fast as I could. I mostly just lay in bed trying to ignore the pain that wouldn't go away. Finally, it was eight o'clock. I staggered back down to David's office and knocked on the door, he let me in and I handed him the money. He took it and stuffed it into a pocket.  
  
"How are you doing?" He asked me, as if he really cared.  
  
"It hurts, my fix." I moaned as pain hit me again.  
  
"You'll get your fix soon, but I have a new drug I want to try out. Will you let me try it on you?" He asked me sounding for all the world, like a nice elderly man. Alarm bells went off in my head.  
  
"N-no. My fix." I stuttered. My body nearly gave out on me, clearly it was not happy with my decision to say no. It wanted a fix.  
  
"If you let me try out my new drug on you, you can have your fix. Think of how it will feel, free of all pain again. You can be happy and it won't hurt anymore. You want to make me happy, right?" He asked. Fear clamored up at the thought of not making David happy. It is good to make David happy. _He just wants to make me more addicted. I get my fix if I let him give me the drug. But I'll lose all chance of getting away. It hurts and the pain will go away. Not another drug. It's just one more, wanna make David happy, David happy = no pain. I don't want to become more dependant. IT HURTS!_ The different sides fought in my head. Pain rushed through my body and I fell to my knees, a soft scream tearing from my throat as my body started shuddering.  
  
"OK." I said, the word falling out of my mouth before I thought about it. I shuddered again. "Then I get my fix, right?" _As long as I get my fix everything will be OK._ My body continued to ache.  
  
"Yes. Now come over here and I'll give you your fix." I managed to stand up after my second try. _See? It's good to make David happy._ I walked over to the medical area with him. He pulled out a syringe with a blue drug in it. My eyes lit up. _My fix!_ He injected it into my arm and I felt the insane smile start to creep across my face. Almost immediately the drug began to make the pain disappear. Then he pulled out another syringe, this one had a red liquid in it. He stuck it in my arm. "Now hold still this might hurt a little." He injected it into my arm. Fire lanced through my veins and I heard myself screaming, then all of a sudden everything went black.

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another shortish chapter! R&R please!


	7. Interlude

Interlude I've never really been that bad a kid. At least I've tried to be good for Father Maxwell's sake. It's getting harder to believe in God because, although I might deserve some things, I certainly don't think I deserved all this. There are people worse than me who live better off and I'm starting to wonder why. Now I wouldn't just tell you this story if everything kept going bad for me, that would get kind of monotonous. This story was not meant to end with me living out my life in this job, and it doesn't. But this story will prove that if you care enough then things can change, it just might take a bit of work. So keep your head up and don't be content to not change things that bother you. 


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
When I woke up, the first thing I felt was a throbbing pain in my head. It took me a second to remember exactly what had happened. I had had my fix so why was there still pain? Then I remembered the red syringe and I fought to open my eyes. Everything was a bit blurry to start. Then things cleared out. _Great, just great, the bastard had dumped me back in my room after I had passed out._ AND he hadn't even put me on the bed. I was on the goddamned floor. I really needed to get some answers out of him. I was getting tired of passing out.  
  
What does this drug do and why the hell had I agreed to take it? _To make David happy_, an eerie voice answered the rhetorical question. _Dammit strike two for you, Duo. God, if only I hadn't needed that fix. Shit! What day is it, how long before I've got to make the payment? I have only like twenty dollars._ I got up and jogged down the hall to David's office. I savored the feeling of being able to run and not feel pain... except for the throbbing in my head. _Stupid drug!_ I knocked on David's door. To my surprise he opened it seconds after I knocked.  
  
"Yes...?" He asked then looked at me. "Oh, Duo, you're up, I see. How do you feel?"  
  
"Uh fine... Except for the constant throbbing of my head! What the hell did you do to me?" I asked angrily.  
  
"Now, now Duo, don't get an attitude with me. Remember I'm the one who gives you your fix." He said with a slight smile. _Shit! Calm down Duo, chill out. Don't make him stop your fix. David doesn't like being talked to angrily.  
_  
"I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, honest!" I said hastily.  
  
"That's OK Duo, right now I'm interested in your body's reaction to the drug. You said your head hurts? Must be a side effect. Well, just to let you know, that is a second fix, it is supposed to make it so that your original one lasts longer. I've just invented the drug and you've been with me long enough that I think you can be allowed more time." He said. I felt my heart jump in my ribs. _More time? Less pain._  
  
"However, don't get too excited. This drug is stronger, so if you don't make the payments it will hurt even more." _Shit, that's possible? I don't know if I could handle more pain._  
  
"You will now have until the first of every month to make your payments but since you have more time you will have to get more money. Instead of $2000 each week you will have to make $15,000 each month." Wait a second, fifteen K, let see two K a week, five weeks a month, that's only ten.  
  
"But sir, I had to make less money each month before this!" I blurted out. A dangerous look came into his eyes. I automatically shuddered. David was not happy.  
  
"Are you saying you would like me to up the amount each month that you have to pay?" I probably had a very surprised look on my face then. I felt my eyes get bigger.  
  
"N- no sir. I- I'm sorry, words in haste, I- I didn't mean it. I wasn't thinking." I said as fear came over me. I had to try hard to keep from shivering as memories of pain came to me from times I had mouthed off to David.  
  
"That is not good, you are supposed to think remember? It makes me happy when you think before you talk and you want me to be happy, right? You don't want to make me mad do you?" He asked as if he was talking to his child. _Don't want to make David mad, Duo stop it. Please? I'm scared._ A voice whispered inside of me. I shivered.  
  
"Yes sir, I mean no sir. I mean I want you to be happy sir." I said, fear still pumping through me. Hard to think when you're scared out of your wits. "I'll try harder."  
  
"That's good, now you should probably go get to work and make your money so you can pay me and make me happy."  
  
"Yes sir." I said and stood there, waiting to be able to leave. I thought about the time that I had had to learn the lesson of waiting until specific orders were given and shuddered again.  
  
"You are dismissed." David walked back over to his desk and sat down, I quickly turned to the door and left. I let out a sigh of relief after I was outside. At least he hadn't hurt me. Time to start manipulating people. 


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
I was leaning against a wall some-what in the shade. I was in the middle class part of town I had felt like staying out of the crowds today, everyone flocks to the rich part because they want to seem rich by walking among the rich people. I felt like watching people be who they were today. Then something caught my eye on the far side of the street, it was a blonde- haired boy my age leaning on a corner casually.  
  
I've been in this business for a while and I know how to try and look casual as you scope people out to steal from. This boy looked to be doing just that. To my surprise I suddenly realized that I had made no move to find out who else worked in the business with me. Sure, I knew I had people who lived next door but it had never occurred to me that they worked for David too. I decided to become a little more certain before I... OK, now there was no doubt. I watched as the boy scoped out a man who looked to be worth a good steal and started following him. I decided to meet him on the way back.  
  
I made my way across the street to where the boy had been leaning and waited. The boy did indeed remove various items from the man and stuff them into his pockets then without looking made his way back. The look on his face when he saw me standing there watching him was irreplaceable. Then I realized that if I had seen someone watching me I would have run. So I decided what I could do really fast... nothing. Calling out would do absolutely no good. I decided to take shortcuts back to the apartments if he ran. He ran. I beat him there. 


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
When he saw me leaning casually against the opening he stared in surprise again, then I called out. "It's OK, I work for him too." I said this sadly. He stared at me in surprise and I could see the conflicting emotions fighting in his head finally he decided to open up.  
  
"You- you do?" He asked cautiously. I nodded.  
  
"David, right?" I asked back. He looked at me and then relaxed.  
  
"Yeah. So how did he get you?" He asked then he blushed. _Cute._ "You don't have to answer if it's too personal." He added quickly.  
  
"No, that's OK, he heard me crying in an alleyway and invited me to stay at his house." I left the rest to be figured out by the boy. "And you?" He blushed again.  
  
"Well, I was trying to starve myself to death..." He paused trying to see what my reaction was to this. It was obvious he felt ashamed. I tried extra hard to keep my face impassive, even understanding. I ought to be pretty understanding, I had tried it once too. He continued.  
  
"David found me and "invited" me too." He held up his hands and made quotation marks. I smiled, my first really happy smile since David had found me I realized. "Uh..." He paused again as if debating whether or not to ask a question.  
  
"Go ahead and ask." I said. I felt sorry for his shyness and decided to try and make him more comfortable. He stared in surprise then recovered.  
  
"Uh... what's your name?" He asked. I smiled again.  
  
"Duo, Duo Maxwell." I reached my hand out and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meetcha."  
  
"My name is Quatre Rebarba Winner." He said shyly.  
  
"A mouthful." I said in surprise at the length of his name and then smiled for the third time._ If I hang with him I might even be able to become used to smiling again._ "I think I'll just stick to your first name." Then I paused. "Or whatever I decide to call you." I thought a minute.  
  
"I've got it, Q. Short and one syllable, easy for me to remember." He laughed at this. We talked a lot more that day completely forgetting to steal. I found out that he lived right next door to me. To think all that time and I never even knew he lived next to me. It turned out that after David had tried his new drug on me he had tried it out on other people to. Quatre was also under the red syringe. 


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
The next day I went out to try and make some more money. I had lost time yesterday. I stood on the corner of the street leaning casually against a wall, so far I had snagged three wallets, a looking glass, and three watches, two gold ones, one gold-plated. I was planning on going to the pawning shop later. Quatre had decided that he would pawn the things for me so that I could get a fair price. I had never even thought about getting someone else to do it for me. Quatre was a sharp kid. It was a pretty good haul for six hours.  
  
Then I spotted a boy about my age with dark brown messy hair. He was wearing a sharp blue suit, a gold watch, and... gold cuff-links? This guy was a gold mine. I snuck quietly up behind him, following him for now. It would be easier on a less crowded street. To my surprise he turned down a street that I knew turned into a dead end. _Hmm, must be new here._  
  
I followed him and reached forward to slip his wallet out... and then he swerved around grabbing my arm and twisting it into a painful lock. _Shit._ _He caught me._ I started struggling to get away but his grip was like a fucking vice. I looked up at him and his cold blue eyes raked over my face. I froze. _Shit._ Now he had seen my face. This was the first time in my two- year career that I had actually been caught. This kind of freaked me out because the guy was no older than me and I hadn't even touched him and he had caught me.  
  
"Why are you trying to steal from me, it's obvious that you don't like stealing." He said in a calm tone. I stared at him in shock. _How the hell had he known that?_ He continued staring at me.  
  
"What let me guess, you can't tell me?" I nodded dumbly. In one quick movement he had twisted my arm a little more and slid up the sleeve on my arm. "Just as I thought, you're on a drug, who's your boss?" I shook my head, no way I was telling someone else. David had let the first time slide postponing my fix for only one day. He would not be so nice if it happened again. Plus, I wanted to make David happy.  
  
"Hmmm, you might not want to stop now but I'm sure you'll want to stop soon enough. You on the other hand, should start trying to quit that drug." My eyes got wide._ Quit the drug, was he kidding?  
_  
"No! David would not like that!" I shouted. Then I realized what I said and put my hand (the other one was still being crushed by robot boy's vice of a grip) over my mouth. _Shit, now he new who my employer was._ Fear pumped through me again.  
  
"David huh? I'll research that and I'll talk to you again." I shook my head. Unconsciously my body shuddered.  
  
"Please no! Don't! If David finds out I slipped his name, he'll hurt me!" I shouted, fear rushing through me again. _David will not be happy about this. He's gonna hurt me._ I involuntarily cringed.  
  
"Sorry, but this guy sounds like bad stuff. I have to stop him. Now where does he live?" The strange boy asked me. I was really scared now. David would kill me if this stupid boy followed me home. I did the only reasonable thing I could think of. I punched him as hard as I could in the stomach. He doubled over, and I ran back towards home.  
  
"Wait!" The boy croaked. I ignored him and kept running. I would have to stay out of this part of town for the next few days. Dammit, this was the richest part too. I decided I would have to tell Quatre about this new meeting and see what he thought.

* * *

yaay for heero's creepy robotic senses! yeah, i know it's slightly OOC but its funner this way! R&R!


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
I talked to Quatre for a short while telling him about what had happened. He agreed that it was kind of freaky too. He said he would keep an eye out for such a boy. After that I had said I was tired, which I was, and left. Once I was back in my room I sat down on my bed and pulled out the things I had stolen. _God, I hate that I have to steal._ I looked in the wallets, the first one had only thirty dollars in it, the next two were much more promising. The second had $100 in it. The third had a total of $257. This was good. He must have been planning on making a big purchase. This was bad, $387 was not enough for this one day. I would have to make up for it later. I was suddenly very tired, I lay down and relaxed, maybe tomorrow would be better.

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yeah i know its short but i was getting a little lazy im sorry! the next one is longer! 


	13. Chapter 11

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SOME GRAPHIC VIOLENCE! please dont read if you cant handle it!

* * *

Chapter 11  
  
I was walking slowly to David's office. It was my second time making a payment. I was a bit shaky still thinking about the pain I had had to deal with two days after the payment and the cruelty David had shown me. I knocked on the door and David opened it. I handed him the money. He ushered me inside and I went in and sat on the hard metal chair in front of his desk. Then he barked sharply  
  
"GET UP, DUO!" Needless to say this scared me out of my wits and I hastened to oblige. He walked up behind me and I turned only to have a sharp reprimand, "Face the front and do not turn until I tell you to do so." He grabbed my arm and wrenched it up behind my back and I cried out. He held me in that lock forcing me onto my tip-toes while he whispered in my ear in a soft chilling voice.  
  
"I did not give you permission to do such things as sitting and turning. Do only what I tell you or you will feel pain." He wrenched my arm higher up and there was a sickening cracking noise. I shouted in pain and felt a pressure behind my eyes. _Don't cry Duo, boys don't cry._ He hit a pressure point behind my knee and I fell to my knees. I nursed my broken arm.  
  
"Don't touch your arm Duo." He said this calmly and without a hint of anger but his eyes held a warning. I stopped. "Stand up." I did. "Not quick enough of a response." He said coldly making me shiver. He grabbed my broken arm roughly causing me to gasp in pain and held it straight out. He looked me right in the eyes, "Do as I say and don't think, the faster you react the better. The less pain. You make me happy when you do as I say. If I am happy you won't feel pain. Cross me and I'll make you wish you weren't born." He grabbed the wrist of my broken arm and twisted it at an odd angle until there was another cracking sound. White hot fire raced up my arm. I screamed. I felt the pressure behind my eyes again. _Boys don't cry._  
  
"Are you understanding what I am saying?" He asked in a menacing voice. I nodded slowly. "Answer out loud!" He barked.  
  
"Yes!" I shouted fear rising again.  
  
"That would be, 'yes _sir_'." He said in a tone that showed he was enjoying this. He bent my thumb back and there was a popping noise. He broke my thumb. I cried, tears running down my cheeks. I looked up at his face. He was smiling.  
  
"Kneel." He spat. I knelt, praying it was fast enough. It must have been because he made no move to hurt me. "Stand." I did. "Face my desk put both your hands face down on it." I did as he instructed. My broken arm shaking and a dull sense of pain running through me. He pulled out a knife. I stared. _Please don't let him hurt me with that please!_  
  
My short prayer to God did not help. He held the knife over my broken hand and then looked me straight in the eye. I was sure that my fear was written all over my face.  
  
"Do you fear me?" He asked gently. I nodded. "Answer out loud!" He shouted and slashed the knife across the top off my hand making a diagonal line. I bit my lip to not shout out in pain. He asked me the question again. "Do you fear me?" I did not hesitate to answer this time.  
  
"Yes..." I hastily added, "Sir." At the end remembering that he had broken my thumb for it.  
  
"Close, but I can tell you almost forgot, can't have that can we?" He slashed another line diagonal to the first creating an 'X'. I bit my lip harder and tasted blood. I did not cry out. "Don't try to play strong in front of me, I know you for what you are." Blood was making a pool around my hand from the deep slashes. He lifted my hand and made two more jagged lines on my palm creating another 'X'. I cried out.  
  
"That's better." He let go of my hand and on reflex I pulled it back towards me. "I gave you no permission to move your hand from the desk!" He yelled. I put my hand back on the desk, knowing it was not quick enough. He moved behind me with a speed I did not expect from him, he kicked my legs out from under me and I fell flat on my back. It hurt. I made a move to sit up and then the knife point was against my throat.  
  
"You are slow to react, you will learn, yes?" He nicked my neck drawing blood. I would have answered him but the knife was against my wind pipe and I would have pushed into it if I spoke. David did not seem to realize this. Either that or he didn't care. I personally guessed it to be the latter.  
  
"Answer when spoken to." He said moving the knife away from my throat and cutting two sharp slashes into my forearms. Then he stood up and moved to go do something outside my vision. I did not move. Everything was fading into darkness. The loss of blood was making me dizzy. I barely realized when David knelt next to my head again. "As I said, I know you for what you are, a person that no one in the world cares about, that's why you're here, no one cares about you." I blacked out.

* * *

things get better i PROMISE! R&R please!


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I woke up shivering and covered with sweat. That was one of my least favorite nightmares. My hand unconsciously moved to feel the scars on my other hand. It always left me feeling empty inside. Made me realize once again that no one did care. It hurt. You know how people say you can't hurt in a dream? It's a lie. I can feel the pain every time. I can't forget. I shrugged off the memory of it, and checked the clock that was bolted to the wall. 4:32 am. Damn, I had slept a long time. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep so I decided to go outside and see if there was anyone outside who I could rob. Most times that I came out this early in the morning there was no one but runners. Runners don't carry their wallets with them, but every now and then there was some lunatic like me out there with money in their pockets just walking around.

I stepped outside and shivered a little at the semi-moist air. It was foggy, even better conditions to steal from people in, but most times no one wanted to walk around in it. I jogged down the streets looking for anyone to rob. On a back street there was a lady walking along, she looked quite out of place and I wondered briefly what she was out doing on the poor side of town. She had a purse on and I thought about what I wanted to do. Purses were harder to steal from, it was nearly impossible to rip it off someone's arm without causing a commotion and most times people would notice if you stuck your hand into their purse. I decided in the end that I needed the money so I crept up behind her and reached carefully into the purse, I pulled out the wallet gently and without too much noise. Just because I said it was hard doesn't mean I'm not damn good at it. I smiled and turned away stuffing the wallet in my pocket as I went.

Not two minutes after I robbed the lady, I heard a gunshot. I don't know why but I ran in the direction of the gunshot. I turned a corner and stopped and stared at the scene in front of me. A man who looked to be about twenty or twenty-one was standing near the body of the lady I had just robbed. The man was holding a gun over her body. She looked pretty dead. Blood was making a pool around her. I couldn't help it, I gasped in surprise. The man looked towards me, looked back at the lady and then did a double-take._ Oh, shit!_

"Hey!" the man yelled in a gruff voice. I jumped back around the corner and heard a bullet whiz by. _Shit, oh shit, oh shit._ Apparently the man didn't care if he killed one or two people this morning. I ran down random streets in complete panic mode. I had just seen a man who had killed a woman and had escaped before the man caught me. _Shit._ I could feel my heart jack- hammering in my chest. I turned another corner, and came face to face with the man. _Fuck! Why do I always have such bad luck?_ The man grabbed me and pulled my back against his chest, I struggled until I felt the barrel of the gun against my head. _Double fuck._

"Now hold still." This was pointless to say because I was already frozen. "You better not tell anyone about what you saw or when I get out, I'll find you and beat the shit out of you." OK, so maybe he did mind about who he killed. I thought about how the man had looked, yep, he could definitely beat the shit out of me.

"You not gonna tell anyone?" Pointless question. It's kinda hard to disagree with a gun to your head. I slowly nodded. He released me pushing me away from him. He stared at me for a second. Then he said, "What's your name?" I might have decided not to answer if the gun was not still pointed at me.

"Duo, Duo Maxwell." If only I could lie. That would have been a very good thing.

"If I go to jail, I'll hunt you down." He said. I turned to go. Then everything went black.

* * *

R&R if you want me to put up any more chapters! 


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

I woke up shivering and covered with sweat. That was one of my least favorite nightmares. My hand unconsciously moved to feel the scars on my other hand. It always left me feeling empty inside. Made me realize once again that no one did care, it hurt. You know how people say you can't hurt in a dream? It's a lie. I can feel the pain every time. I can't forget. I shrugged off the memory of it, and checked the clock that was bolted to the wall. 4:32 am. Damn, I had slept a long time. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep so I decided to go outside and see if there was anyone outside who I could rob. Most times that I came out this early in the morning there was no one but runners. Runners don't carry their wallets with them, but every now and then there was some lunatic like me out there with money in their pockets just walking around.

I stepped outside and shivered a little at the semi-moist air. It was foggy, even better conditions to steal from people in, but most times no one wanted to walk around in it. I jogged down the streets looking for anyone to rob. On a back street there was a lady walking along, she looked quite out of place and I wondered briefly what she was out doing on the poor side of town. She had a purse on and I thought about what I wanted to do. Purses were harder to steal from, it was nearly impossible to rip it off someone's arm without causing a commotion and most times people would notice if you stuck your hand into their purse. I decided in the end that I needed the money so I crept up behind her and reached carefully into the purse, I pulled out the wallet gently and without too much noise. Just because I said it was hard doesn't mean I'm not damn good at it. I smiled and turned away stuffing the wallet in my pocket as I went.

Not two minutes after I robbed the lady, I heard a gunshot. I don't know why but I ran in the direction of the gunshot. I turned a corner and stopped and stared at the scene in front of me. A man who looked to be about twenty or twenty-one was standing near the body of the lady I had just robbed. The man was holding a gun over her body. She looked pretty dead. Blood was making a pool around her. I couldn't help it, I gasped in surprise. The man looked towards me, looked back at the lady and then did a double-take. Oh, shit!

"Hey!" the man yelled in a gruff voice. I jumped back around the corner and heard a bullet whiz by. Shit, oh shit, oh shit. Apparently the man didn't care if he killed one or two people this morning. I ran down random streets in complete panic mode. I had just seen a man who had killed a woman and had escaped before the man caught me. Shit. I could feel my heart jack-hammering in my chest. I turned another corner, and came face to face with the man. Fuck! Why do I always have such bad luck? The man grabbed me and pulled my back against his chest, I struggled until I felt the barrel of the gun against my head. Double fuck.

"Now hold still." This was pointless to say because I was already frozen. "You better not tell anyone about what you saw or when I get out, I'll find you and beat the shit out of you." OK, so maybe he did mind about who he killed. I thought about how the man had looked, yep, he could definitely beat the shit out of me.

"You not gonna tell anyone?" Pointless question. It's kinda hard to disagree with a gun to your head. I slowly nodded. He released me pushing me away from him. He stared at me for a second. Then he said, "What's your name?" I might have decided not to answer if the gun was not still pointed at me.

"Duo, Duo Maxwell." If only I could lie. That would have been a very good thing.

"If I go to jail, I'll hunt you down." He said. I turned to go. Then everything went black.


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When I woke up, my head was throbbing again. I gently reached back behind my head. There was a sizeable knot there. Damn bastard had hit me with his gun. Then I froze. At least he hadn't shot me with his gun. The bump would go away. It serves me right. I turned my back to the guy. Shouldn't have done that. Then I froze again. I felt in my pockets then relaxed again. The wallet was still there, I stood up and then grabbed onto the nearest wall as a wave of dizziness washed0I do deserve this. I pulled out the money and counted it, five thousand dollars. I should have been really happy that I now had that much money, but I really didn't want it anymore.


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 

I got over the woman's death pretty quickly. This is not too surprising to me for two specific reasons. The first is that people had died around me before and I had already had the idea that I might have been responsible in some way, so I was starting to get pretty used to it. Yeah that sounds really stupid, too bad I actually have to get used to it. Too bad I can't be normal.

The second reason is that I hadn't even known her so why should I actually care about her when I hadn't even cared too long after the people I had actually cared about died? Some might say that was kind of reasonable, a three-year-old rarely actually understands death. I cried my eyes out when Solo died. I even tried to kill myself so I could be with him. Sister Helena I had cried for a little while about, then David had found me and I had had other things to worry about. I cringed, pain. Maybe I was being too hard on myself but it doesn't really seem that likely. I shed one lone tear for the lady when I realized I had killed her. Boys don't cry. I shed just one and I never thought about her again. That is, not unless she had just played a part in my most recent nightmare.


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I was up so I walked outside, not really caring where I went. I had just gotten a lot of money so I didn't need to work right now. I had thought about waking Quatre up but decided against even telling him about what had happened. In the short time I had known him I had learned that he cared a lot about other's feelings. I thought it best not to worry him. I know it's stupid that I procrastinated since I could right then, but I just didn't feel like stealing. I had a lot on my mind and I wasn't thinking very clearly. It was hard to focus on anything, let alone use the skills it takes to steal without being caught. My head was just a little too full right now and I wanted some time to sort everything out.

I was walking not paying attention where I was going and thinking when I suddenly realized I wasn't walking anymore. I glanced up to see where I was and noticed my feet had taken me directly to the richer part of town. Something in the back of my mind was nagging at me that I had forgotten something about here but I was just a little too preoccupied right then. I leaned against my normal spot on the wall to watch people go by unconsciously picking out people to steal from. I sighted a woman who was just too good to pass up as she walked by with her purse wide open. I started walking towards her already in stealth mode. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder I turned around in shocked surprise and then glared as the thing that had been nagging me was in front of my face.

"What do you want?" I spat at the boy who had caught me robbing.

"Are you ready to start contemplating the idea of escaping yet?" The boy asked. I let out a sharp laugh.

"Escape? It's impossible for me too escape I'm already hooked." I said cynically. The boy stared at me.

"You didn't take more of that drug did you?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, you wanted me to stop." I said non-humorously. "Well, sorry but I forgot to tell you David added a drug to the one I normally took, it gives me more time but causes more pain."

"More time? Even better." He said. His optimistic attitude was starting to get on my nerves as well as his superfluous words.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tired of his little games.

"More time gives you more freedom. When you are ready to stop him it will be easier." He explained.

"What makes you so sure I want to escape?" I asked him. He acted like such a know-it-all.

"You mean you don't?" He asked me for once he seemed surprised. I hesitated. I still couldn't lie. "You mean you like being overly dependant on a person?" That struck home.

"No!" I shouted then I lowered my voice. "Maybe I would like to escape but that's beside the point. He's got me hooked. I can't get away." I said sadly. The boy looked at me with pity in his eyes. If I hadn't known that no one truly could, I might have thought that he actually cared.

"But there is. You have to believe me, there really is." He said. He said it with such surety that I actually felt a glimmer of hope spark. "It's all up to you though, do you truly want to escape at all costs?" He asked in complete seriousness. I thought about this for a second.

"Yes." I said simply.

"If you do then you are going to have to trust me with a little more information." He said slowly.

"Trust you?" I was a little taken aback. Trust was a weakness that I didn't need. "Trust you, I don't even know what your name is."

"It's Heero Yuy." He said immediately. I stared.

"My name's Duo Maxwell." I said.

"That's a start, one other question, do you know anyone else who would want to escape?" He asked. I paused my mind had immediately jumped to Quatre. I had learned that he didn't like stealing either.

"I don't know many other people but I met a boy my age who would want escape too, his name is Quatre." I said. He looked to be storing the information for later use and then looked up at me again.

"OK, Duo, now that I know you truly want out I will get a few other details worked out and then meet up with you again but I have to go now. Until we meet again, have faith." He said and then turned and left. To my surprise I found that I didn't want him to leave. I found that I actually felt safe and comforted for the first time since Sister Helena had died. I snapped myself back to reality. He couldn't possibly have meant there was a way to escape and be OK. That wasn't possible. Was it?


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

I found Quatre in the non-rich part of town again. I slowly made my way towards him through the crowds of people. He saw me and waved. I waved back. I decided to tell him about my meeting with Heero. We decided to stay here rather than go to the apartments and talk about it. He stared wide-eyed at me after I had finished.

"Do- do you really think it's possible to- to," He lowered his voice as if afraid of being overheard. "Escape?" I thought about this for a second.

"I don't know. Heero seemed really sure that he could do it though." I shrugged, "I really don't know." He stared at me again, his eyes getting glassy as a slow smile spread across his face. I could tell he was imagining what it would be like to be free again.

"If you don't mind Duo, I'd like to go to my room and empty my mind, it's rather full right now." He said politely. I nodded.

"Whatever you want Q. It's getting kind of late anyway. I'm kind of tired." We walked back to the apartments and went in separately. We had figured that David hadn't wanted us to know each other and we didn't want to attract attention. I lay on my bed and thought about being free. For the first time in the two years I had been here. I had a dream, and it wasn't a nightmare.


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I got up the next morning feeling refreshed and energetic. I ran to the richer part of town, actually hoping I would meet up with Heero. I stood at a corner and sighted out people to steal from although I really didn't feel like stealing. I wasn't even paying attention to when my next payment was. I didn't care. I felt a hand on my shoulder and whipped around. I stared angrily at Heero. God, must he always do that? It is not a good idea to sneak up on a thief who's constantly afraid of getting caught. I actually looked at him now. He had two friends- at least I assumed they were friends, with him. One was slightly taller with a large brown bang obscuring my vision. I stared for a second at that, if that wasn't the weirdest hairdo I had ever seen, I didn't know what was. I could only see one of his dark green eyes. My eyes moved to the other, an oriental with his black hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. He had dark brown eyes, that I could almost not see the pupil too. My eyes strayed to a shiny thing that caught my eye. My eyes got round, the guy was wearing an actually sword. I mean seriously, a fucking sword.

"Hello." Heero's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hi." I responded slowly looking up into Heero's deep cobalt eyes. He gestured to his two friends.

"This is Trowa." He indicated the green eyed one. "And this is Wufei." He pointed to the one carrying the sword. I snapped into my normal self.

"Hiya. Nice to meet ya. My name's Duo." I stuck out my hand to Trowa, who accepted politely. He was still silent and he seemed to be in the background. Then I held out my hand to Wufei. He stared at my hand for a second and then looked me in the eyes with a glare. I pulled my hand back slowly. OK… Whatever.

"I do not know you yet, I do not shake hands with you. I still do not know if helping you escape is justified." Wufei said calmly. I stared at him. Whatever you say, jerk. I turned back to Heero.

"So what's the deal? When can you get us out?" I asked him anxiously.

"We were thinking, next Saturday." Heero replied. OK, that gives me a week. He gestured to his friends again. "I'm bringing these two, we'll get you out." I stared at him, hoping he didn't mean what I thought he meant.

"Wait… just one second. You mean you're going against David and you are just bringing these two and yourself?" I asked incredulously. He nodded. I opened my mouth to talk but he held up a hand.

"We are very experienced fighters. We can handle it just fine." He said. He said it with such surety that I almost believed him. "We just need to know where you live now." He said calmly. Panic rushed through me. I mean. I knew he was going to ask, but I just didn't comprehend how it would feel to tell him. I nodded slowly, hoping my fear didn't show on my face.

"Well, OK then. Follow me." I said dry-mouthed. I slowly went off. I checked back every now and then to see if they were still following me. They always were. I stopped at the end of the street where the apartments were and gestured to the old apartments. "That's the place." I said still feeling kind of nervous. I half expected David to walk out the door and see me talking to Heero and them. Heero nodded. I could tell he was memorizing the look of the apartment.

"OK then, we'll see you next Saturday. Be ready." He said and turned to leave with his comrades. I watched them go and trudged up to my room. I fell onto my bed when I got there. If I had cared to look I would have noticed that on the calendar Saturday was the same day the payment was due.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The rest of the week passed in a blur. The day after I had found out I told Quatre about the conversation I had with Heero and that he should also be ready on Saturday. Today was Saturday. Heero had said that they would come around nine o'clock. It was seven right now. I had noticed on Wednesday that the payment was due the same night but I had not cared enough to get enough money. All my hopes rested on Heero. I could handle an hour of pain for the rest of my life free from David. I just prayed that Heero would pull through.

It was 6:55 pm and I was just returning to my room. There was a note on my door. It was from David. I read the note with foreboding. David wanted me in his office. I had no choice. My mind, although ready to escape, would not yet let me disobey one of David's orders. I went down the hall to his room and knocked on the door. He answered it immediately. He ushered me inside.

"Sit." He said. I sat. "I know you are wondering why I called you in here. I have made an important discovery on my new drug. I will tell you about it later. First you must prove your loyalty to me, by obeying orders." I shuddered after he left through the door.

Whenever David wanted proof that I still obeyed him, I always ended up in pain. He brought in a window and frame separate from the wall and sat in on the floor leaning against a wall.

"Stand in front of the window." I did as he told me already guessing what he was going to have me do. I shivered as I thought about the pain I would soon be in. Too my surprise I had a headache. I never had headaches. Then the answer hit me. Today was payment day. The drug was wearing off. "Punch the window and break the glass." I hesitated for only a second before smashing my fist as hard as I could through the window, my eyes shut tight against the inevitable pain. I still remembered how he had taught me to obey orders without thinking. The glass from the window fell on the floor. I stared at it. Some of the glass was now red colored from my blood. I felt my hand stinging. I glanced down at my blood covered knuckles, there was glass in the cuts. I winced at the migraine I must have. The drug was wearing off much faster than the other and why shouldn't it. It was stronger. He moved the frame away. He gave me an evil grin.

"Kneel!" He barked out. Without even thinking about it I knelt in front of the glass. The pain was only in my head right now, it felt like my head was going to rip apart. "Put your hands on the glass!" I stared at him. Just do what he says Duo! You need the fix. Fix? I'm not getting a fix. I'm escaping. Come to think of it. He hadn't asked for the money I didn't have. Fire ripped through my body as it felt like a nail was driven through my skull. He's going to hurt me even more though.

My chest was burning causing me to freeze in my thoughts for a second. I whimpered as my lungs burned as if from a lack of air even though I was already breathing. Just DO IT! I placed my hands lightly on the glass. David stepped forward with a grin placing one foot on my hand. He stood on it grinding it into the glass below. I cried out loudly. I looked at my hand and watched as the blood poured out. Then his other foot was on my other hand and it was ground into the glass too. I screamed unable to withstand the pain from the drug and the glass, I felt a tear slide slowly down my cheek while voices inside my head tormented me. Wimp! Boys don't cry! Suck it up, baby. This is the thanks you give to Solo's memory? He stepped off my hands. I did not move them from the glass. David had not said I could yet.

"I've been checking out some data on this new drug and it turns out that the human body is not suitable to be able to withstand the use of it. I could put you out of work for a while to get you well again, but I have so many others like you... I don't really need you anymore." David said coldly, his voice cutting through my thoughts as he pulled out a gun.


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I stared at him as the implications hit me. My body was on fire. I was aching everywhere. Over taken by a moments rage that since I was going to be of no use anymore he was going to kill me, I picked up the hard metal chair in front of his desk and smashed it as hard as I could into his head not even caring about the bloody handprints I left on it. Before he fell I grabbed my cross, the one he had taken from me from around his neck and gripped it tightly in one hand, blood covering it too. Bastard! He fell hard and his gun went spinning on the floor towards me. I grabbed David's gun. The gun he was going to use on me, and held it aimed at his prone form. The pain was surging through my body and I was having trouble hanging on to consciousness. I stared at my rapidly shaking hand for a second. Blood was dripping from it, cut from the glass. I almost blacked out. But as I stared back at the man I found that I would hold on just to kill him.

Pain surged through me overriding the anger for a brief second. I was on my knees, black spots covering my vision here and there. The pain almost unbearable, fire running through my whole body. My head pounding. My whole body shuddering from fatigue. Click. Dammit! The gun didn't shoot. Empty bullet holder. I got ready to shoot another bullet, couldn't see clearly now. Almost fell forward but managed to stop myself. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. I slowly pulled the trigger, it was so hard my hand didn't seem to want to listen to the orders my brain was giving it. Either that or my brain wasn't working right anymore. The gun was wrestled out of my hand. I fell forward into the glass.

I didn't care about the many stinging cuts I had on my chest. It didn't matter. I was sure I was going to die. David had said that my body couldn't deal with the drug. I was going to die. Why should pain matter? I deserved it all. After all, I killed four people unintentionally. I should die a painful death. This was working well enough.

"You haven't killed anyone yet, there's no reason to start now." A distant voice said. I haven't? So all those deaths weren't my fault? I thought for a second. The idea of that was almost more than I could comprehend. Oh well, I'm still going to die. Now I will be able to see Solo and Sister Helena. Ha, wouldn't they love to see me now? What I've become? Yeah they'd probably die all over again. In shame. The sound of a gun shooting many times sounded somewhere in the background. Everything went black, and I didn't feel anymore pain.

--------------

When I woke up I walked out the door a little unsteady. I was content to start my job, so that I could make the payment sooner. It was hard to stand up. My body hurt. A lot. I almost fell down the stairs. Wait… Stairs? Where the hell am I? Then slowly the memory of what had happened last started coming back to me. I didn't die! Did David die? Did someone kill him, or was he still alive? Shit! My fix! My body didn't hurt as bad as it should though. But if David was still alive I was going to be hurting really badly soon.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and froze fear rushing through me. I whipped around to be confronted by the calm stare of Heero. Again. God, he was always creeping up on me. Despite my angry thoughts about him sneaking up on me I reached forward and hugged him. His body tensed up, and then slowly relaxed. As he relaxed I relaxed a little too. I tried to ask questions, but my mind wasn't forming the words for my mouth.

"You should be in bed." Heero said quietly. But I had a thousand questions, where was David? And Quatre? What had happened? Where was I? Heero seemed to know what I was thinking.

"You are at my house." I stared openly at my surroundings for the first time. Damn, I was right, he was a gold mine. "Quatre is in another room, he is also recovering from the drug. As you should." He stared pointedly at me. "And if you wanted to know, David is dead." I nearly fainted from relief. I was tired though so I let Heero lead me back to my room. I fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.

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Yeah... sorry for the cliffhanger and all, it just so happened that homework picked up at the exact same time that a posted that. But so yeah, here we go into the falling action.  
Oh yeah, and thank you SOOOO much for all the comments! Like I mean seriously, thank you so much! Please keep them coming.  



	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

When I woke up again I was able to talk. I stood up ripping the stupid IV's and monitors off and out of my body. Hadn't ever used 'em before, why start now. I wanted to go see Quatre. The blond, although strong was not as good at reviving from the pain as me. He had only been over the due time once and only for a day but he had needed to take the next two days off. I got up intent to explore the place myself. Unfortunately, the first door I opened happened to lead to the one Heero was in, so much for exploring.

"Where's Q?" I asked him. He stared at me for a second and then realization came into his eyes.

"Oh, you want to check on Quatre?" He asked me. I nodded slowly and then I had my own epiphany. I had called Quatre, Q.

"Yes!" I shouted a little more loudly than I had meant to, normally I wouldn't have cared but the big house seemed to make loudness seem rude.

"You really should be in bed." He said with a slight smile. I glared at him.

"Don't play games with me Yuy, I wanna see Quatre." I sighed, overdoing it a bit. "Then I'll go back to sleeping like I was some stupid toddler who needs a nap. OK? Now take me to Quatre!" His mouth quirked into a small grin.

"I guess since you act like a toddler you should take naps like a toddler." He said with a grin. I glared at him again.

"Hmph." I turned my back to him crossing my arms over my chest not realizing how childish I looked. I turned back around again when he broke out in laughter. I glared at him.

"Alright, alright. I'll take you to Quatre." With that he stood up and led me to Quatre's room.

Quatre looked to be doing much better than I had thought he would, he was up and his aquamarine eyes were shining with curiosity. I reached out to him and noticed that my hands were bandaged. I stared at them for a second. Oh yeah, the glass. I shrugged.

"So how ya doin', Q?" I asked him happily. He smiled at me.

"I'm fine." He said, his voice a little hoarse. I nodded.

"So," I said grinning a grin that ought to split my face. "How's it feel to be free?" He smiled right back.

"Great!" He said with a content smile, and I noticed his eyes starting to droop.

"You should probably go back to your room and sleep, Duo." I was startled by Heero's voice. He had been so quiet I had almost forgotten he was here.

"Alright, alright." I said pulling a pouting face. I let Heero lead me back to my room again.


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

Heero helped me and Quatre recover as well as his friends Trowa and Wufei. We all became fast friends. Trowa seemed to have an unusual way of calming Quatre down when he got freaked out by the nightmares he had. Heero was a person I could not do without as I slowly began to recover. He managed to save me from many of my nightmares by constantly comforting me. After I had told him about my life and all those who had died. He had told me that I was not to blame for any of those deaths. I knew that he couldn't really know but it made me feel better to hear it.

Slowly, I began to let all the deaths go. I began to have less and less nightmares about them until they weren't there anymore. I still had nightmares about the things David had done to me, but slowly Heero was pushing those out too. As it turned out David's 'business' was only one out of a whole ring that existed. There were many other places all over the world with the same kind of horrible things going on. David was the ringleader. Yeah, and wouldn't you know my luck, I just happened to have him as my boss. Heero found all that out on the web. He's a total genius (hacker?) on the computer. We decided it was up to us to work together and try to squash his whole network.

Heero said I should tell others my story. I decided that I would. It was hard reliving some of the memories, so that I could write them down, but Heero was always there to reassure me. All that's left now is the ending line. How should I end it? Not happily ever after. No, there are still a lot of things to happen, not all of them good. Ah, yes. I know... Always have faith. (Shhh... so what if it's sappy? I can end my story that way if I want to:P)

Duo Maxwell

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Me: Alright, alright... I know it's sort of an anticlamactic ending, but it was hard! Plus, this was it leaves a possibility for a sequel (if my muses ever decide to pick up this line of thinking again). Anyway, to my couple of reviewers, thanks for actually commenting... it was only because of you that I actually finished this story. To anyone new who likes the piece and would like the idea of a sequel, let me know (R&R) . I hope everyone enjoyed it, and any complaints or ideas or whatever else would be appreciated. 


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